Disasters - a growing problem around the world.It's a fact - disasters are on the rise around the world. According to one estimate, the 1990s saw a tripling of disasters and a nine-fold increase in economic costs when compared with the 1960s. Climate change,earthquake,floods,storm increasing concentrations of people in vulnerable areas, and political and economic instability are all contributing factors.
The challenge is - how do we deal with this growing dilemma?

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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Fires in Mumbai buildings are no longer rare. The Mumbai fire brigade received around 7,500 calls for blazes, both major and minor, in the past two years. By contrast, BMC records show the fire brigade has inspected just 6,838 of the 2.9 lakh buildings in the city since October 2012. Of these, 4,453 have been sent notices for violations of fire safety rules.What is alarming is that only seven buildings have faced prosecution, the most recent being Lotus Business Park in Andheri where a fireman with the Borivli fire station lost his life.

Most recently , an inspection report into the December 15 blaze at Mumbai Central found several inadequacies in its fire prevention preparedness. A major tragedy was averted when firemen doused a blaze in the 21-storey railway quarters located opposite Mumbai Central railway station in one hour. Over a dozen of the 60 people evacuated had to be hospitalized. A few suffered serious burns and will need surgery. Currently, officials involved in routine fire-fighting themselves inspect buildings and slap notices. Other than highrises, they check malls and multiplexes. Officials admit that attending to fire calls makes regular inspection of structures difficult.

Keeping this in mind, the department is now working towards setting up an inspection cell that comprises 99 officials whose only duty would be to inspect buildings and slap notices if norms are flouted and prosecute those responsible.

"This inspection cell should be fully operational after December 2015. It would have 99 staffers, of whom 33 would be station officers and 66 assista nt station officers. They would not be engaged in routine firefighting and only serve notices when required, follow up on them and prosecute wherever the need be," said P S Rahangdale, deputy chief fire officer.

There are also plans to set up a computerized database, which would have all details regarding inspections and notices served. The department plans to emphasize on bi-annual inspection, once the software is in place.

"According to the Maharashtra Fire Protection and Safety Act, a society should submit an inspection report once every six months in January and July , which does not happen. We are, therefore, working towards a system that would send an SMS or email to the concerned building when an inspection is to be done biannually and has not been done," said a senior officer. Officials target December 2015 to make both the inspection cell and the computer database operational. A former chief fire officer, though, said the department does not have enough staffers to handle the increasingly vertical highrises.

TIMES VIEW:

The fire brigade move to have a separate cell for only inspecting buildings and prosecuting the laggards has been overdue. In a city that refuses to learn from examples (there have been quite a few major high-rise fires), prosecution is the only solution. But inspection and prosecution must be even-handed; allegations of corruption will make it another much-hated sarkari procedure that will be looked at as just another money-making tool for a section of officials.

Monday, December 15, 2014

A major tragedy was averted at Mumbai Central on Monday morning when fire-fighters were able to douse a blaze in the 21-storey railway quarters opposite the station in an hour without any casualties. But over a dozen of the 60 people evacuated had to be hospitalized; a few received serious burns and will need surgery.

The fire brigade received an SOS around 11.15am and tenders from several fire stations like Worli, Byculla and Bhendi Bazaar were rushed to the ground-plus-21-floors building known to be over two decades old. Though equipped with sprinklers and extinguishers, none of the equipment worked indicating poor maintenance and awareness.

Fire officials said preliminary reports indicate the flames started in a service duct in the shaft of the staircase, which was encroached upon by old furniture, among other things.

Unconfirmed reports said the fire started from a stove in a servant quarters on the fourth floor. The servant quarters on the fourth floors were the worst hit.

"The fire started spreading from one of the mid-level floors and went upwards and downwards simultaneously through the duct. However, it spread towards the top floors with higher intensity. We immediately started rescuing people through the stairway and also through our ladders outside," said P S Rahangdale, the deputy chief fire officer.

The fire was doused in an hour but cooling operations continued till 3pm. Every floor in the building is known to have two apartments and two servant quarters which are outhouses as well. As the duct was closer to the servant quarters, those living in them were more affected. The smoke spread quickly after the fire started, making it difficult for those in the top floors to breathe. "Initially a few of the residents were extremely afraid, but we managed to bring them all down safely," said Rahangdale.

As many as 14 persons had to be rushed to the nearby BYL Nair and Jagjivan Ram hospitals. Of the seven taken to Nair hospital, three had sustained serious burns. "They will require surgery. The patients have sustained around 10-18% burns. All are stable and have been kept under observation," said dean Dr Ramesh Bharmal. Six patients admitted to the Jagjivan Ram hospital were discharged by evening. "Patients had discomfort due to smoke inhalation. Only one patient has been kept under observation," said Sharat Chandrayan, chief PRO, Western Railway.

Residents were relieved a major tragedy had been avert ed. An officer who lives on the 18th floor said he was at work when he got a call from a help who was in the building.

"I was told there was smoke and a fire had broken out. I rushed to the building. I am glad everyone has been brought out safely and there has not been a calamity."